Apr. 28 at 8:13 PM
$RR Most stock ownership sits with retirement accounts, institutions, and other large holders, so big flows from pensions, mutual funds, ETFs, and asset managers move prices far more than one retail trader can.
Trading is now heavily automated, but the algorithms are written and overseen by humans, so bots execute strategy; they do not create the strategy out of thin air.
Where the corruption is real
There is real manipulation and corruption in markets: insider trading, pump-and-dump schemes, selective disclosure, and conflicts of interest absolutely happen and have been prosecuted.
That means some people do steal money, but they usually do it through specific illegal tactics, not by openly “controlling the whole market.”
The part people miss...
Markets are not fair, but they are also not all-powerful conspiracies. The system is a mix of incentives, power, speed, leverage, and information advantage, which lets large players sometimes benefit at the expense of smaller ones...
